Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- uncertainty or fluctuation, especially when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.
- Psychology. the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions.
noun
- the simultaneous existence of two opposed and conflicting attitudes, emotions, etc
“simultaneous conflicting feelings,” 1924 (1912 as ambivalency), from German Ambivalenz, coined 1910 by Swiss psychologist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) on model of German Equivalenz “equivalence,” etc., from Latin ambi- “both” (see ambi-) + valentia “strength,” from present participle of valere “be strong” (see valiant). A psychological term that by 1929 had taken on a broader literary and general sense.
n.
- The coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings toward a person, an object, or an idea.